>> you are watching a stormwatch 7 coverage of the blizzard 2016. heavy, steady snow has dumped several inches of us and we have a long way to go. people are being told to hunker down and stay home. alison: moments ago, metrorail

shutdown for the next two days, metro bus service already halted. leon: we have the latest information of the blizzard. he for we go outside, let's go inside to the latest timeline with steve rudin, standing by. and chief meteorologist doug hill in the weather center. doug: outside the belfort furniture weather center, very heavy snow. we are getting close to blizzard conditions. lb south and east of the city. this is in effect until early sunday morning all the to long island, new york. plenty of heavy snow coming our way. every now and then we see a patch, where it was like it's slowing down. the dark bluish showing the snow falling at two inches per hour. that is heading to the metro area. south, i don't think this will make the d.c. metro, but the northern neck, extreme southern maryland, as far a calvert county, there may but as theiefly,

powerhouse storm continues developed with the incredibly strong wind above the surface, all that is doing is pulling in tons of atlantic ocean moisture into the teeth of the cold wind blowing at the surface, making the snow heavier and the wind will get stronger and stronger. more of what to expect as the worst of the storm is yet to come with steve rudin. steve: a lot more on the way overnight and early tomorrow morning. the snowfall rate will increase is perinch, to which hour, in some areas may get three inches per hour, especially if you hear the thunder snow. the wind gusts will intensify, per hour,iles visibility less than a quarter-mile in many places with blizzard conditions. a high wind warning will going to affect anne arundel county, calvert, and st. mary's. we will see wind gusts upwards of 30, 40, maybe even 60 miles per hour. sustained that 30 right now in annapolis.

here is a freshly updated snow total map. things up around the district and points north and west, montgomery county and pluserick county, 25 to 30- inches. oxon hill, prince george's county, 15 to 25, and the further south and east, lesser amounts because we will have rain and sleet mixing in with the snow. a full look at the forecast coming up with doug hill in a few minutes. bothn: we will see you then, thank you. the snow is still falling but people are already trying to clear their driveways, shoveling snow from walkways. one of the hardest hit areas is letting county. we start there with richard reeve. rich, what are you seeing now? , i cannotlison resist. we have this awesome virgin snow . let's check this out. look, guys, 3, 4, 5 inches. it is many challenging night,

not only for the folks dealing with this but over there at the gas station. so many of them are closed. it is many challenging night for plow drivers and folks looking for gas. whether on the snowy loudoun county parkway, or at a gas station parking lot -- >> we have a lot of snow and i think it's getting worse. richard: some drivers are fighting uphill battles. you come back and it's the same. almost as frustrating as trying to start this snowblower. >> it's impossible right now. richard: then there is this storm oasis. >> i was very busy. richard: on this challenging , this route 28 service station is one of the few in the area with any gas left. >> i was driving five miles

looking for gas. it's like finding gold. it is like gold, and the gas station operator says he thinks he will run out of gas by 6:30 in the morning. with the snow come it's unbelievable, and the worst is yet to come. live from ashburn, richard reeve, abc 7 news. us he finallyell got the snowblower started. please tell us. aughs]rd l leon: i guess not. metro trains are completely shut down now for the weekend. bus service and real service will resume monday. kevin lewis is at the rockville station. is a completely empty now? yeah, and the final trains left the main station,

l'enfant and metro center, the last rain that will come through on the red line will be about 11:30, but the only two people on the platform armature areoyees come in orange -- the metro employees, in orange, shoveling the snow off the platform. otherwise it's completely dead. the station manager said a lot of the recent trains had to passengers, three passengers. we are talking a mere percentage of a normal friday night. a lot of people have asked, why are they not at least operating, the tunnels, the subway portions, it's because they want to put as many of the metro cars underground as possible, where it is 30, 40 degrees warmer, to avoid all the possible blizzard-force winds to protect the railcars through this very hectic weekend we are buckling down for. lewis, rockville, kevin

back to you in the studio. alison: along with the snow, the threat of very powerful wind gusts. are working hard to keep the power on, but they are prepared for outages. effort couldation be a multi-day effort. we are working very closely with our emergency management agencies in prince george's county, maryland, the district of columbia, as well as montgomery county, maryland. theon: stay with abc 7 for latest on outages in your area. leon: people all across the region have been told to stay home, but some restaurants are still staying open. alison: stephen tschida has been live at logan circle at one of the busiest spots in the city. how is it looking on this friday night? it sounds like fun. stephen: it's almost like mardi gras out here.

it is busy now. the street is pretty much snow covered, but we have some diehard partiers. i have to ask, what brought you out tonight? >> cabin fever. stephen: the snow is about four hours old and you had to get out? >> we are going to be stuck all weekend long. let the party begin now. we have been watching the snow accumulate in front of the establishments. i can show you how deep it is. venture that is probably about five inches accumulating on this table. while the restaurants on p street on logan street will be open through the weekend, one establishment which will not be behind us.le foods this will be closed tomorrow. we been watching people all night walking up to the doors, trying to get in, unable to get in. old is truly kind of a big

mardi gras type of situation. i better toss it back to you before it's too crazy. alison: isn't that how all of your live shots have ended tonight? leon: that has been his whole night. alison: we have been hearing for over a week now, if you don't need to be out on the roads, stay home. that is tonight and tomorrow. virginia state police reported more than 800 crashes today in the state. our people listening to the warnings? horace holmes is an mobile track 7. how are the conditions at this late hour? is it hase good news been really quiet here on 395, just south of alexandria right now. not too many people on the road. ,e are seeing a lot of trucks as the truck drivers are still doing their jobs.

really, just the trucks in the snow plows and us on the roadways, which is very good news because the snow is blowing . it's still very slick on the roads. the plows are waiting for more snow to build up before they come out again. that is the situation. the good news is most everybody is off the roads. leon: that is exactly what the crews with the plows what to see and hear. thank you. let's look at some of the numbers tonight. the department of transportation says in the district they will have a total of 106 heavy plows all the road. on 12ia dot workers are hour shifts with about 4000 trucks across four counties. in maryland, 2700 pieces of equipment working, using 355,000 tons of salt. that's a lot.

d.c. sports are shut down because of this. the capitals originally shifted tonight's game with the anaheim ducks up a few hours. it has been officially postponed even though they went about my to do that. same goes for the wizards. they were scheduled to play the jazz tomorrow night, but acting has been postponed. we are just getting started tonight. watch the impact of the 2016 blizzard. we have the largest team of meteorologists in the region, all working for you tonight. alison: the complete stormwatch forecast is coming up.

leon: welcome back to our continuing coverage of blizzard 2016. we have an added feature for those of you with a computer nearby. behind us, wemera have a live stream on our website, wjla.com, if you want to check it out, a different perspective, see what goes on during the commercial breaks, if you dare. leon: we will have to keep the

entire show clean, even the commercial breaks. alison: good luck. doug is here now. the serious stuff is on the way. doug: it looks like the heaviest part of the storm will be between 1:00 in the morning and 1:00 saturday afternoon. let's start with steve rudin. steve: the snow totals are increasing quickly, but not as fast as they will overnight and into the morning. 8.5 inches of snow dale city, poolesville at seven inches, the same the n and gainesville, frederick at about seven inches. a lot of folks are celebrating the snow. this is from warrenton, virginia. keep the pictures coming, pics@wjla.com. we will try to get as many on-air as possible and online. the big serious storm on the way, blizzard warning still in

effect for the district and prince george's county, all of southern maryland, fairfax, alexandria, montgomery county, howard county until 6:00 in the morning sunday. we have to get through all of tonight, all the day tomorrow, and into tomorrow night and early sunday morning before the blizzard warning is over. it will eventually come down and the snow will slowly end. the latest storm information, one to two inches per hour likely, even higher amounts if you hear thunder, the wind milesifying, 40 to 60 per hour with a quarter-mile of his ability, some areas with less than that. the conditions will continue to deteriorate as we move through the overnight. for more on that, we had to chief meteorologist doug hill. doug: we continue to see the heavy bands of snow moving in. that will be the story overnight, getting heavier and heavier. is gettingenter

stronger and stronger, deeper and deeper into the atmosphere, the barometric pressure dropping. radar, a little indication of the center of the storm, just offshore. it will continue to drift northward, jason to the outer banks, very slowly, off the peninsula tomorrow monday. that whole time it will be pulling in tons of atlantic moisture into the cold air, producing more heavy snow. the wind has not even started yet. that will be overnight, early tomorrow morning. offshoree lighthouse, of the virginia shoreline, the mouth of the chesapeake bay, wind gust of 54. everything is changing, the air temperature of 46. there's a contrast in air temperatures, everything coming together to generate these high wind gusts. to0 a.m., wind gusts of up 60 miles per hour in ocean city. almost hurricane force early

tomorrow morning on the ocean , 50 miles per hour or higher on the shores of the chesapeake bay. the higherusts in elevations full stop that is important because that is causing the blizzard conditions, blowing all the snow around, visibility near zero at times. even in the early afternoon we will have when gus of near 30, 50 along the bay. as far as the accumulations, 25 to 30-plus through the district, ay, lessern the b amount of snow because of the sleet. through the day tomorrow and tomorrow afternoon, how are we going to measure the snow? think about it. all of these hours of strong winds, it will be hard to get a good representation of how much know you got. we will take your report, but i think this is way it will play verify the actual amount because of all the blowing and drifting. we will be back in just a few

minutes as our special coverage continues.

wow.he internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios. alison: welcome back.

café, an's lost dog. favored come is going to close tomorrow because of the blizzard. that has been a neighborhood fixture and has stayed open during many winter storms. this time, the owner says the heavy wind caused her to change her mind. >> we usually stay open for the community who can walk in from the neighborhood, but i don't think anybody will be walking tomorrow. alison: like doug said, the wind will be 35 to 40, wind gusts of 60, so not a lot of walking. leon: not in those conditions. our crews will be delivering for

those of you. we are all over the region to show you what this blizzard looks like. alison: jay korff live in alexandria with the latest. hi, jay. jay: hey, guys, speaking of the to havemade sure it at my back right now. the wind is pushing the snow so hard, the top of this car is clear, and look at all the snow that has stacked up on the hood. in the beginning, there is a beauty, even in elegance to a snowstorm. host townike a g right now. jay: these few winches will soon maybe 30to 15, 20,

inches of snow. machine are now holding their own against mother nature. but shovels and plows alone mena be above the keep pace with a storm that is expected to morph into a blizzard. >> we charged all the batteries in our house and we have stocked up on food and we have plenty of water. that is about it. all day long, this alexandria grocery store teamed with business. >> we are out of eggs. stocking up,re preparing for the possibility of being stranded for days without power. ok, guys, we just ran about a block and a half because i wanted to show you this. that was the side street. this is north washington street. yes, this is north washington street, one of the busiest arteries in all of old town

alexandria. deep large heating the warnings and staying away. live in old town, jay korff, abc 7 news. alison: thanks, jay. leon: the snow is blowing sideways, kicking in. been working so hard out there, they all have. we predicted this one would be one for the record books. leon: and the storm is not even close to being over. we are in the thick of it. our meteorologists are watching it.

alison: we want to show you new images of a dog rescue we were hearing about in the newsroom. this dog fell through the ice in fairfax station. a family was reportedly tubing nearby when the dog walked out onto the ice. at the time the temperature was 21 degrees with a wind chill of 8. him, helped him get dry and warm, and the dog will be fine. leon: if that dog could talk. would love to hear that story. way to go, frosty.

alison: you have been sharing your winter photos all day long. we want to see years, from the snow piling up to how your family and pets are coping. give us a look at what blizzard 2016 looks like for you. send them to pics@wjla.com. leon: let's get a look at sign. -- let's get a look outside. alison: roz plater is live in district heights. roz: we are really in the thick of it. i know we have said that before, but we are in the thick of it, lots of wind, blowing snow, and the temperature is plummeting. my iphone said 23, but feels like 9. righte had plows, none now, but that is making it hard

for the plows working these roads to stay ahead or get ahead of mother nature. the challenge they face is they 1900 milesucks and of roadway in prince george's county, so through the night they will try to stay ahead. up abeginning to pile little bit. getting some accumulation now, and it's difficult once they white outroad, it is conditions again. that is what they will be dealing with through the night and they will be fighting at the best they can. roz plater, abc 7 news. leon: thank you, roz. alison: the snow is getting big and thick. ingn: starting accumulat which, means a lot more to be concerned about, including power lines. alison: we will have much more continuous coverage of blizzard 2016 after this.

wow. the internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline?

yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios.

and now abc's "jimmy kimmel live." >> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight, david duchovny and gillian anderson. from "room," jacob tremblay. us music from leon bridges with cleto and the cletones. and now, while we're at it, here's jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ♪